London for Dummies – a city trip in six hours!

London is a truly cosmopolitan city and many sights are world famous. You can easily spend some days here. But what we want to show you today is what you can see in just a short time. And that’s more than you might think.

Most things that come to your mind when thinking of London are included in our city tour: Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Kensington (including shopping in Harrod‘s), Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Covent Garden Market and of course Fish & Chips…

Stopover in London

This post is perfect for your London stopover if you have some hours left (we had 5-6 hours, actually). Instead of twirling your thumbs at the airport, go downtown and do some extreme sightseeing!

Daytrip to London

If it wasn’t a stopover, you might be as crazy as we were and make a day trip to London. Well, why not? We booked a Ryanair flight to London for just 30€ returning the same day.

We started very very early and were standing in front of the Tower Bridge at 8:30 am. In the afternoon we had to leave for the airport. Back home late in the evening it was an extremely exhausting, yet very exciting experience. Sometimes we were staggering instead of walking. And the next morning we felt kind of hungover. But it was totally worth it.

It was definitely something like a ‘getting away from it all’! You wake up in Frankfurt at night, the next morning you enjoy London and but sleep in your own bed later. By the way, the idea was generated by the Holiday Pirates, posting trips like these time and again. But we actually undertook it some time later.

We were lucky as regards the weather. No British drizzling rain but sun and some showers with wind. All in all it was great and blue sky makes most photos look better anyway. Amen!

City tour by Tube

But now some details on our itinerary. We walked a lot and used the Underground in between (you’ll see the stations and lines we used in Italics).

A day ticket was less than GBP 9 (today it’s more expensive). A bargain if you often use it. The network is really good. We still hear ‘Mind the Gap’ from time to time. Of course, you can start wherever you like, it doesn’t matter! And in six hours, it’s definitely not possible to see museums or sights you have to queue. You will need more time for this.

1. Tower Bridge and the Tower of London

London’s landmark, world famous, we don’t need to say more on that…iconic!

Tower Hill – Circle or District Line – Mansion House

2. St. Paul’s Cathedral

Yes, the church of the Royal Weddings. Burcu adores the British Royals, including Waity Katie!

Mansion House – Circle or District Line – Westminster

3. Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey

Very impressing. By the way, you can enjoy the best view from the middle of the Westminster Bridge!

Walk, or Westminster – Circle or District Line – Victoria

4. Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park and Kensington

From Buckingham Palace we walked through Hyde Park right next to it in the direction of Kensington. One of London’s shopping areas was on our list, including window shopping in Harrod’s, of course!

Knightsbridge – Picadilly Line – Picadilly Circus

5. Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden Market

On our way from Picadilly Circus to Trafalgar Square we had Fish & Chips. A must do, when in London. We were lucky finding a very cosy pub!

Covent Garden Market is one of the hipster capitals in the world. Plenty of delicatessen and fancy food are waiting for you at this place. We would have loved to stay longer here. But soon we had to return to the airport. Next time we’re gonna spend more time here, and the next time is sure to come.